Cane mill roll



CANE MILL ROLL Filed May 23, 1955 Patented Apr. 2, 1935 i 1,996,394

James A. H. Wodehouse, Hawi, Territory of Hawaii Application May 23, 1933, Serial No. 672,496

1 Claim. (01. 100-47) The invention relates to cane mill rolls and has these structures is to increase the bite on the for its object to provide one or more of the rolls cane, but they are all open to the objection that of a mill with a surface of a character to collect they decrease the effective crushing surface of the and retain bodies of bagasse or comminuted roll and the general efficiency of the mill. The

5 fiber, constituting a multiplicity of rough grippresent invention'is designed to effect a substan- 5 ping areas, spots or surfaces to engage the cane tially uniform and constant feed Without imand prevent Slipping of the rolls, thereby insurpairing the normal efficiency of the mill by proing asubstantially constant and uniform feed and viding the peripheral surface of at least one of increasing the efiiciency of the mill, which dethe rolls of the mill with a multiplicity of relasirable objects are attained by providing the contively small holes of comparatively shallow depth 10 tact surface of the roll with a multiplicity of relaand preferably disposed in parallel longitudinal tively small circular holes into which the fibrous rows, with the holes in successive rows arranged material is compacted to form rough surfaced in staggered relation. Such an arrangement, is plugs and patches and affording a gripping conillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, in

tact between the roll and the cane. which I indicates the top roll of a typical mill, 15

In the accompanying drawing 2 the feed roll, and 3 the discharge or bagasse Fig. l is a conventional end elevation of a three roll. As shown, the top roll I has its peripheral roll mill in which the invention is applied to the surface provided with multiple rows of circular top roll. holes 5, which may be formed in any satisfactory Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the improved roll. manner as by drilling, or in the operation of 20 Fig. 3 is a similar fragmentary view showing a casting the rolls. As indicated, the longitudinal modified disposition of the holes. rows of holes 5 extend along the surface 4 at an Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section angle to the longitudinal axis of the roll and the illustrating the application of the invention to a holes in each row are disposed in staggered rela- 26 roll having a circumferentially ribbed and grooved tion With reference to those in the adjacent rows, surface. so that the entire contact surface of the roll is Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4. reticulated, the individual holes preferably be- One of the major problems of a sugar mill ening of three-quarters of an inch diameter and gineer is to attain and maintain a substantially of equal depth and a circumferential pitch of .ap-

30 constant and uniform feed of the cane through proximately three inches. 30 the crushing rolls of the mill units in order to With this particular disposition of the holes, obtain a maximum extraction of the juice from the latter become quickly filled with a compacted the cane, without interruption. It is necessary in and matted mass of comminuted cane fiber or order to secure a high extraction to have the bagasse, the exposed surface of the individual mill rolls set as close to each other as is pracplug-like masses affording ahighly effective grip- 35 ticable. If they are set too close or if the grain ping contact between the roll and the cane. of the metal of which they are made is not sum- While the invention has been illustrated as,ap-' ciently open, or if the cane being milled is of plied to but one of the rolls of a mill, it is obvious, the hard milling type, the rolls have a tendency that any number of rolls may be similarly 40 to slip and refuse to feed. This causes a loss in equipped. 40 capacity, a lowering of the extraction and a rapid While the invention has been illustrated as wearing of the rolls, so that they take on a polish applied to otherwise smooth surfaced rolls, it which only adds to the difficulties. will be understood that it is equally applicable A number of devices and expedients have been to the conventional types of circumferentially 5 suggested and tried with varying degrees of sucribbed and grooved rolls, as illustrated in Figs. 4 cess, looking toward a constant and uniform feed and 5, in which 6 and 1 indicate the circumfer of the cane through the mill rolls. Among the ential ribs and intervening grooves, which are expedients heretofore employed are the circumusually V-shape in cross section, and 5 indicates ferential and longitudinal grooving of the surone of the multiplicity of holes or counterbores face of one or more of the rolls, the provision penetrating the surface of the roll to a some- 50 of irregular holes or pittings in the surfaces of what greater depth than that of the grooves l. the circumferential ribs and the providing of the In this case, the bagasse fiber is compacted into surface of the roll with a plurality of polygonthe individual holes under great pressure and the shaped indentations, each including a plurality outer surface of each plug-like mass of bagasse 5 of square corner steps. The principal purpose of becomes an eifective gripping portion of the roll surface to insure a uniform feed of cane without, in any way, impairing the function of the circumferential grooves and ribs, which latter may be disposed on the surface of the roll in any conventional manner, that illustrated in the drawing being the commonest form in which the individual grooves I are formed between adjacent walls of successive ribs 6.

As stated, the effect of the invention is to improve and enhance the feeding function of any of the standard types of cane mill rolls and it may be applied to any of the rolls of mills already installed or as component features of new installations. 

